All news

US to tighten screws on BRICS states to keep status quo — senior Russian diplomat

Washington "is clinging to the world of the past seeking to shackle the states which yield, one way or another, to its pressure in the zone of its influence," Sergey Ryabkov noted

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. The United States will continue exerting pressure on other countries in a bid to keep the world from changing amid the latest BRICS summit, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday.

"Regardless of what is going on in BRICS, we will inevitably encounter such methods from the United States and its affiliates simply because they cannot adjust to the global changes. <…> But the process of eroding the role and significance of the collective West in global affairs is irreversible. The latest BRICS summit is a vivid example of this. The pressure will continue," he told a news conference on the results of the BRICS summit in South Africa, when asked whether the West could be expected to intensify pressure on the BRICS nations.

The United States "is clinging to the world of the past seeking to shackle the states which yield, one way or another, to its pressure in the zone of its influence," he said.

"But I assure you that the politicians, diplomats and those who deal with foreign policy and foreign economic matters in both the current members of BRICS and those states that have been invited there are quite experienced, wise, and sophisticated people who understand what is going on perfectly well and find ways not to yield to this cynical pressure from the collective West," he stressed.

The BRICS summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 22 to 24, 2023 and was chaired by South Africa. With the leaders of 54 African nations in attendance, this was the biggest meeting of the heads of state and government of the Global South in recent years. Participants in the summit agreed that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will join the association from January 1, 2024. A new list of possible members will be compiled by the next BRICS summit.